The Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has said Russia will not start a war but will not let its interests “be trampled on” either.

Lavrov, who is also Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, made these comments during a live interview on Russian radio.

He said: “There won’t be a war as far as it depends on the Russian Federation, we don’t want a war. But we won’t let our interests be rudely trampled on and ignored.”

Tensions between Russia and the West have been extremely strained lately, amid the amassing of around 100,000 Russian troops near the Ukrainian border.

Russia has denied planning to attack its smaller neighbour. However, it has been seeking assurances the Ukraine will never be permitted to join NATO.

It has also demanded that NATO remove its troops and equipment from Eastern Europe, with the USA and NATO both rejecting both demands.

The US has warned Russia that it will introduce crippling sanctions if it decides to invade the Ukraine, which Moscow has said would represent a total cutting of ties.

Lavrov’s comments come amid this footage of military drills released by the Russian Ministry of Defence on Thursday, 27th January.

It captioned the footage: “A joint exercise of air defence units and air crews of the Central Military District took place in the Sverdlovsk Region.

“The crews of Su-34 multifunctional fighter-bombers and Su-24MR reconnaissance aircraft played the role of an air enemy.

“During the exercise, the crews of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems marched to the areas where combat training tasks were performed. Having deployed on the ground, the anti-aircraft gunners began monitoring the air situation.

“After detecting an air enemy, the S-400 crews performed electronic launches.”